Commission vice president to run for president in Slovakia

Maroš Šefčovič, the European Commission's vice president for the energy union, has formally announced his candidacy for Slovakia's presidency.

“Our country needs a good, non-partisan president,” Šefčovič said in a press conference. The election will take place in March and Šefčovič will take "unpaid electoral leave" until then, a Commission spokesperson said Friday.

Last year Šefčovič was briefly a candidate to be the Socialists and Democrats' 2019 nominee for European Commission president, but he dropped out of the race and endorsed Frans Timmermans.

The longtime Commission member and former diplomat is running with the support of the ruling Smer party, but has declined to confirm if he is the party's candidate. Smer is headed by Robert Fico, who stepped down as Slovakia's prime minister following the murder of an investigative journalist last year.